syncopated.

taking off and landing

callouses on the fingers. they are a measure of my happiness. borne from playing mainsheets or playing steel strings.

Transport, motorways and tramlines,

starting and then stopping,
taking off and landing,
the emptiest of feelings,

disappointed people, clinging on to bottles,
and when it comes it's so, so, disappointing.

Let down and hanging around,
crushed like a bug in the ground.
Let down and hanging around.

You know, you know where you are with,
you know where you are with,
floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back

and one day, I'm gonna grow wings.

if i ever had the time. i'd put on a pair of headphones. and walk.

i'd walk here, i'd walk there,
i'd stop to examine the cracks in the pavement, the shells upon the shore,
i'd observe people jostling for a place on board the mrt in the morning rush,
i'd observe a spider spinning its intricate web among the branches.

i'd walk up, i'd walk down,
i'd stop and start again. notice how the land rises and falls.

i'd walk through the rain.
i find it immensely enjoyable. walking while cold water drowns my jacket, while i'm still warm inside. i love the sound of water - pitter-patter over my head, splashing upon the leaves, roaring down the streams en route to the sea. i love the idea of how it is everywhere yet nowhere at the same time.

yes, i'd walk through saraca, serangoon, changi, east coast park, mt. faber with oceansize and sigur ros providing the soundscape. walk among the crowds at vivo, orchard and raffles link underground with amnesiac and ok computer. examine pavement cracks to the tune of how strange, innocence?, listen to the arcade fire while picking shells from the shore, headbang to one time for all time on board the mrt, and compare the intricacy of petrucci's 'fife and drum' to the spider's web.

and when the time comes.

i'll fly.

it'll give me a different perspective of all the things i've seen from the ground.
not just because its a different angle.
but because i can see the same ideas and beliefs across different countries. conceived and built differently. the pebbled stones on the Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Lake Hourtin. the wonderfully named Middlefart of Denmark. the culture of Beijing, Qingdao, Enoshima, Busan, . the ever-friendly Hobart, Melbourne, Corpus Christi, Los Angeles. the dusty heat of Alexandria, Doha, Mumbai. the laid back beauty of Auckland, the Maldives, Wellington, Wanganui, Milford Sound. in particular Milford Sound. time stops in Milford Sound.

i'd walk through the four seasons. i'd jump into the pile of autumn leaves. i'd ski through the snow. roll in the hay. take a real train that huffs and puffs along the tracks as it climbs up the mountain. play paintball in a big open field. watch the battered sydney-hobart boats dock into the harbour. dive among the corals. drive a tractor on a road with sheep and horses on either side. cycle on a road with sheep and horses on either side.

i want to return to new zealand. laser radial worlds next year is in auckland. i really want to return to auckland. i like clear, logical reasoning.

its cheaper to just dream though. patience - the time will come. for now the wings stay folded. i shall stick to walking.

this was particularly inspired by the stale, lifeless shopping malls of singapore. more specifically, the boredom of 'exploring' the biggest, most crowded mall in singapore on a june holiday afternoon, 15 mins walk through mt faber away from home. cheese pie. damn sian. yes vivo is my backyard. i was showing chin leong around after we had been doing maths at my place. we did a lot of walking today.

i do not comprehend how anyone can 'love shopping'. ho hum not my thing.

recommended reading/listening - radiohead: the tourist. album closer.

it's june!
june rhymes with doom!
i write the rules here.

Strummed at 12:25 AM (x)